Magic Tricks
by dingcs
Summary: After he sees JP rewarded with a kiss from Zoe for his magic trick, Takuya tries his hand at magic. And he finds it's not that easy.


**Magic Tricks**

* * *

"Just one trick, Zo. It'll only take a minute."

The blonde glances up at the clock hanging on the right side of the hallway and estimates that there are about three minutes left until the bell rings. Since her class is only down the hall, there's a slip of enough time for JP to show his magic trick. So she lets him.

"A minute you said," she yields to his unwavering offer of a show, arms crossed at her chest in a gesture that screams 'I really don't have time for this'. It's not that she doesn't appreciate his passion for magic—his tricks are amazing to say the least—it's just he always stops her at the most inopportune times. But she'll let it slide just this once if only because saying no to his pout is impossible for her to do.

At her consent, JP whips out his deck of cards and shuffles through them, showing her that there are no shams or fakes in the deck. He then flips the cards over so their red backs are facing up, reshuffles them, and turns over the top card, revealing the Ace of Spades. "I need you to sign your name right here on the card," he tells her, handing her a black sharpie.

"This better be good," she warns, writing 'Zoe' rather messily on the center of it.

"Your mind will be blown, trust me," he assures, grinning. He takes her signed card and folds it in quarters. "Okay, now you have to put it in your mouth."

Zoe raises her brows, but does what he instructs her; she plops the card into her mouth.

JP flips over the next top card in the deck, the King of Hearts, and writes 'JP' with a blue sharpie on it. "Next I sign this card and put it my mouth."

While this is going on, Takuya happens to be making a mad dash through the hallways to get to his own class—he can't afford another detention for his tardiness—until he spots Zoe and JP by the lockers, doing something apart from going to their classes. Curious, he sets aside his life endangerment for one second and walks towards them, asking, "What are you guys doing?"

"Showing Zoe a magic trick."

"Another one? JP, your tricks are lame."

"Says the guy who still can't figure out how I switched his shoes with the teacher's."

The memory of last week's math class resurfaces in his mind. The boys had made a bet that if JP could swap Takuya's sneakers with their teacher's high heels, Takuya would have to do his homework for a week, and Takuya took him up on the offer, knowing that kind of nonsense was humanly impossible to do. But the very next second, he felt a draft against his feet and sure enough Takuya was wearing his math teacher's heels. Ask him what happened, and he wouldn't be able to explain.

"Because that's—I just—AGH THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!"

"Right," JP scoffs, turning his attention back on Zoe. "Anyway, so we both have our signed cards in our mouths, correct?"

"Correct," Zoe confirms.

"Well there's a power in kissing," he starts explaining, fighting hard not to laugh at the way Zoe glares at him, "and the trick here is, if you kiss me, just a quick peck on the lips, our cards will switch. You will have my card in your mouth and vice versa."

Zoe stares at him for moment, scrutinizing him, trying to find the ploy in his shenanigans. "You're not just trying to get me to kiss you?"

JP shakes his head as if he's offended she would accuse him of such, but Takuya catches the sly grin that stays on him for a fleeting second before it's gone, and this time it's his turn to glare at him. JP is up to no good. What else is new? So he watches with a careful eye as Zoe leans in to kiss JP, disciplining his stomach not to upchuck the chicken tenders he had for lunch today.

The action is quick, to Takuya's relief, and JP reaches into his mouth to pull out the card, unfolding Zoe's signed Ace of Spades. The two spectators stare at it in disbelief. When Zoe pulls the other card out of her mouth and unfolds it, she finds it is JP's signed King of Hearts.

"Wha—how did you do that?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets," JP sings, laughing at the pure elation on the blonde's face. "Didn't I say you would be mind-blown?"

"I should've known better than to doubt you, JP. That was really cool!"

"Kiss for the magician?" he tries leaning in, presenting his cheek to her. Zoe smiles and presses her lips against his cheek, and then she's off to her class.

As she departs, JP's eyes trail after her, caught in a dreamy gaze. Takuya overlooks it for now because he needs to get down to the important information, he needs to know the secrets of wooing girls, particularly those of the blonde and green-eyed kind, in. "Teach me how to do that," he demands, no longer caring if he is going to be late for class. After learning that a simple magic trick can reward him with a kiss, detention is the least of his concerns.

JP faces him, eyebrow raised. "Why? You said it was lame."

"I was kidding."

"Pfft, yeah right. You saw how Zoe was all over me, and you want that. Well sorry for you because I ain't teaching you anything!" JP taunts, howling as he makes his exit.

Takuya glares at him all the while and shouts, "Yeah? Well, who needs you! I could learn this shit on my own!"

_How hard can it be?_

.

.

.

"Is this your card?"

"For the hundredth time, _no_, that is _not_ my card."

There's an unimpressed look on Zoe's face as she watches Takuya fumble with the deck of cards. She questions why she's even here to begin with when she remembers that Takuya had stopped her after school and insisted he shows her this catastrophe of a magic trick he learned during his free period. Apparently, she has trouble saying no if adorable pouts are involved in the pleading, and she figures she inherited the disease from her father because he has the same problem when her mother uses the pout against him to get him to do the laundry.

"Err...okay, let me try something else. Pick a card."

"Takuya, you're wasting my time. I have things to do at home."

"Why do that when you can spend time with the _grreeaaat _Takuya-dini! C'mon, pick a card."

Zoe rolls her eyes because Takuya is pouting and being ridiculous again. Still, she chooses a random card from the deck, the Seven of Diamonds.

"Take a good look at it. You don't want to forget it," says the gogglehead with a retarded grin on his face. He keeps the fanned-out deck in front of her and waits for her to put her choice back in the pile, and when she does, he continues with, "So for this trick, I am going to throw the cards into the air and catch one of them. The one that I catch will be the card you chose. Ready? One, two... three!" He launches the cards up into the air, and as they float back down, he quickly grabs one and shows it to her.

"And just like that, I have your card: the Four of Clubs."

"That's not m—"

"Kiss for the magician?"

Zoe just stares at him, his eyes are closed and lips puckered waiting for the kiss, and all she could think is how much of an idiot he really is and how much more of an idiot she is for falling for a guy like him. He is the biggest dork the world has to offer, and if his current expression isn't a clear indication of that, she doesn't know what is.

"You need more practice Takuya," she advises, brushing past him. Takuya opens his eyes, only a little disappointed that he didn't get his kiss—in all fairness, he expected it wouldn't be _that _easy—but then he is thrown out of the loop as Zoe pulls his face down and kisses him.

"Hopefully that will motivate you."

* * *

**End**

* * *

**note: **Believe it or not, this was supposed to be a JP/Zoe story but my Takumi heart wouldn't allow it.

You can find JP's magic trick on Youtube! The video is called "Magic Kissing Card Trick" by Stuart Edge, and that basically inspired this.

Thanks for reading!


End file.
